84 research outputs found
The fourth typology; dominant type and the idea of the city
No full textArchitectureArchitecture and The Built Environmen
On measuring and explaining neighbourhood success: A behavioural economic approach
No full textThis study combines qualitative and quantitative research methods to explain which factors contribute to a problem-free or problematic functioning of neighbourhoods in general and especially of Dutch neighbourhoods that were built in the first years after World War II. An important part of the book is about the development of measuring instruments. Special attention is given to the development of a risk scale that offers researchers and policymakers the opportunity to distinguish on a metric level between problematic and successful neighbourhoods. This book brings together key insights from Urban Studies and central elements of Behavioural Game Theory. The author applies the notions of strong reciprocity and altruistic punishment in Prisoner’s Dilemmas and Assurance Games to describe and explain the interdependent choices that residents make when they act as producers and maintainers of the social climate in the daily living environment of a problem-free early post-Second World War neighbourhood.urban renewal and housingOTB Research Institute for the Built Environmen
LINKX, a language toy for autistic toddlers developed in co-creation with parents and pedagogues
No full textThis master thesis shows the design process of LINKX, a language toy for children with a disorder in the spectrum of autism. Children with autism have an inborn brain disorder and therefore play and learn differently than children with 'typical' development. Language and speech of children with autism develops slowly or not at all. These children's 'different being' indicates a need for different toys. Main goal of this project was to design a toy that stimulates language development in a playful way. Insight in how autistic children play and learn was mainly gained by high involvement throughout the whole process of autistic children, their parents, and their pedagogues. These children: Beer, Robbert and Jakob, played a leading role in this process. I observed them at home, at school, and at speech therapy, and interviewed their parents and pedagogues. Exploration resulted in a design framework for autistic children in which control, direct feedback, rewards, repetition, and memory, are important elements. After this exploration I realized that already within these three children there was much variation in needs. For example, the language development stage, in which children differed. A found similarity was that all children have trouble with giving meaning to words. Therefore they should learn to word objects in their environment. With this framework in mind, ideas were generated. The idea with most potential regarding interaction was chosen and evaluated with parents. Their opinions contributed in further concept development and eventually led to LINKX, the final design of this project. This design aims for a connection on three levels: motor, cognitive, and emotional. On motor level children literally link play-elements together and thereby receive a visual and audio reward. On cognitive level, the children are triggered to link an object with a word. On emotional level LINKX aims to connect parent and child by providing a way to play together. LINKX is elaborated into an experiential prototype and tested in several play-sessions with the participating children. Parents took on the role of co-researcher, because they are expert on their child's behaviour and feelings. The child's play served as reference for evaluation, both for me as for the parents. In general the children enjoyed playing with LINKX. They laughed and repeatedly linked elements to hear the sound and let it move. The characteristics described in the framework seemed to be true. Especially when the prototype did not function as expected, the importance of 'giving sense of control' was evident. For the future I hope that my framework can inform and inspire other designers to develop more toys that facilitate the learning process of children with autism. With growing technological possibilities, technique can help these children learn more, and thereby let them be more able to cope with life.Industrial Design Engineerin
Variation in Sitting Pressure Distribution and Location of the Points of Maximum Pressure with Rotation of the Pelvis, Gender and Body Characteristics
No full textThe pressure distribution and the location of the points of maximum pressure, usually below the ischial tuberosities, was measured for subjects sitting on a flat, hard and horizontal support, and varying angle of the rotation of the pelvis. The pressure data were analyzed for force- and pressure-related quantities. Multiple regression was applied to explore relationships between these quantities and (i) a set of body characteristics, and (ii) the pelvis rotation. The maximum pressure and the pressure gradient were mainly explained by the ectomorphic index, and the distance between the maximum pressure points by gender and the angle of rotation of the pelvis.Design EngineeringIndustrial Design Engineerin
Technology sourcing over the technology life cycle: A study about the moderating effect of the technology life cycle on the relation between technology sourcing and firm performance
No full textHow do external and internal technology sourcing influence the innovative and market performance of firms over the technology life-cycle? The impact of technology sourcing on firm performance during different phases of the technology life cycle represents a gap in academic literature. Practically, it is important for managers to know which technology sourcing strategies to use in the different phases of the technology life cycle to improve their firm’s performance. This study consists of a literature review and three empirical studies into the ASIC sub-market of the Semiconductor Industry between 1986 and 2005. It provides conceptual and empirical insights into the role of the technology life cycle on internal and external technology sourcing. The main conclusion, which is relevant to both managers and researchers, is that firms should use different sourcing strategies in different phases in the technology life cycle if they want to improve their innovative and market performance.Innovation SystemsTechnology, Policy and Managemen
Advanced human body modelling to support designing products for physical interaction
No full textWe are using many designed artefacts in our daily life. These artefacts are typically in physical interaction with the human body, and cause stresses and deformations inside the tissues. When these stresses exceed a given level, the proper physiological functioning of the tissues is limited, and ergonomics discomfort or even medical complications can appear. It is important to consider these effects in designing artefacts. However, consideration of these effects is not straightforward, because we need more knowledge about the mechanisms of human-product physical interaction, about the behaviour of the tissues in the contact region, and about the opportunities to influence the interaction in a positive way. There are no means available to directly study the internal effects that appear inside the body of the user when a particular artefact is used. Therefore we have to use a mechanical-physiological model of the human body to generate the information needed for an ergonomically proper designing of artefacts. Apart from the simulation of the internal loads, this model is supposed to be able to model the physiological functioning. In the past several efforts have been made to develop combined anthropometric and mechanical models, that can approximate the behaviour of the human body. However, these models are not able to represent complex biomechanical properties, anthropometric variability, tissue relocation, complex mechanical properties, and physiological functioning of the involved tissues. The goal of this thesis is to explore knowledge, and to evelop and verify conceptual solutions for complex behavioural modelling of various human bodies and parts of it. The research hypothesis was that this goal can be achieved by the development of a knowledge intensive, multi-representational model of the human body, which has been called advanced human body model. This advanced model (i) considers the anthropometric variability of the whole body and its constituents, (ii) is able to compute the effects of the external loads on the internal structures and tissues of the body, (iii) provides information about the deformed shape of the body when it interacts with the used artefact, and (iv) integrates these aspects into one consistent system of knowledge and processing algorithms. In addition to collecting and structuring the knowledge needed for an advanced human body model, algorithms and procedures have been developed. The knowledge structures and the algorithms have been tested and validated in a pilot application. Commercial software tools were used together with newly developed programs to operationalise the advanced human body model. The software tools are able to support the consideration of anthropometric variability, to represent a cluster of shapes of the human body, to generate instances, to represent the mechanical and biophysical properties, to analyse the restructuring and loading of the internal tissues, to determine the physical deformation of the body being in contact with the artefact, and to facilitate using this information in an ergonomically proper designing of the artefact. In our application the artefacts were various sitting supports. The results obtained with the pilot implementation show that (i) useful shape models can be developed based on a small set of descriptive parameters, (ii) the simulation of the material properties based on the generalised Mooney-Rivlin constitutive equations provides no adequate results, and asks for further research, (iii) the current finite element based simulation packages can not sufficiently cope with the complexities of human body modelling, and (iv) advanced human body models open up new opportunities in optimising the shape of products according to ergonomics criteria.Design, Engineering and Productio
Gestural design tools: Prototypes, experiments and scenarios
No full textIndustrial Design Engineerin
Tramhaltes en reistij: Reizigerswisseling, beschutting en kaartverkoop/controle
No full textTransport & PlanningCivil Engineering and Geoscience
Editorial: Special Issue on Virtual Reality and Ergonomics Enablers for Product Development
No full textDesign EngineeringIndustrial Design Engineerin
Multi-dimensional digital human models for ergonomic analysis based on natural data representations
No full textDigital human models are often used for ergonomic analysis of product designs, before physical prototypes are available. However, existing digital human models cannot be used to simultaneously: 1) consider the tissue loads and the physiological effects of the tissue loads; 2) optimise the product properties. This paper develops multi-dimensional digital human models for ergonomic analysis based on natural data representations, which include anatomy, morphology, behaviour, physiology, tissue, and posture data representations. The results show that the multi-dimensional digital human models can be used to: 1) accelerate the design process; 2) assess mechanical and physiological loads inside the body and in the contact area between the body and the product; 3) optimise the quality of the product; 4) reduce the number of user trials needed to create the product.Design EngineeringIndustrial Design Engineerin
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